Monday 27 February 2017

Chub on the feed.

Chub on the feed.

Getting out for myself of late has been difficult of late due to a new job that has taken up much of my time, yet a couple of days guiding did sort of give me my angling fix. The first was whilst storm Doris blew and luckily a change in tactics saw four three-foot twitch bites come Chas's way producing three personal best chub, the best 5lb 9oz.
The following day we moved river in the hope of some quality roach on trotted bread punch but although the roach weren't as cooperative as expected the chub were with fish to nearly 4lb falling. His cousin Jay joined us and using a more specialist approach took four good chub, again just shy of 4lb.


If you fancy a days chubbing then time is running out but I still
have a couple of days free.


Email me at duncancharman@me.com or call me 07928 617006.

Friday 3 February 2017

River Wye guided barbel dates for 2017

River Wye Barbel guided days 2017

Due to popular demand (and due to the lack of barbel on the Loddon and Kennet) I will once again be offering the chance to fish the beautiful river Wye for barbel and chub during the summer and autumn of 2017. Dates for these feeder/float guided sessions are limited and cost just £135 per person, per day. Spaces limited to just two anglers per day so you are guaranteed I will spend plenty of time with you.

 Below is what a day with myself consists off -
  • Session last up to 10hrs.
  • Tickets to venue.
  • All bait & terminal tackle (rigs etc) – most anglers want to use their own rods and reels but mine can be used if needed. If using your own l will advise on the rods, mainline strength etc prior to our day out.
  • Rig explanation.
  • General watercraft.
  • Your questions answered all day.
  • Photographs of your catches plus general shots throughout day, all supplied on disc.
  • Specimen fish entered into competitions and sent to weekly magazines.
  • Blog entry of days event on personal website - www.duncancharman.co.uk
Dates available are July 25th and 26th, August 24th and 25th, September 21st, 22nd, 27th and 28th along with October 26th and 27th. Dates bookable by a £50 deposit p/p. 
If these dates aren’t suitable then please let me know as I can offer alternative dates for one or two anglers based on travelling up and back on the same day or staying over, prices on request. Dates in bold have unfortunately already been taken!

Book now and take advantage of receiving a £60 Nash goodie bag for just £15 extra. These goodie bags are designed so that you can return and put what you have learnt into practice. Goodie bag offer available only on booking and payable with deposit.

If you are interested then dates can be booked by either calling me on 07928 617006 or by email – duncancharman@me.com
Other additional information – Recommended B&B close by are Sink Green Farm (Sue and David) 01432 870223, The Falcon 01989 740223.
Woody’s Angling Centre Hereford 01432 344644.

Hereford and District Angling Association – hdaa.blogspot.co.uk

Monthly Report January 2017

Monthly Report January 2017
January can always be a difficult month which is a shame as it’s also a great month for catching big fish, that’s if it’s possible to get to the water’s edge and cast a line which hasn’t been very easy of late. The lakes have for a while been frozen and as soon as they thawed the rain and wind came making the sort of angling I was trying to do, almost impossible.
Looking at my diary inputs it’s not been
from a lack of trying as I have still managed to brave the weather on a dozen or more occasions but although I’ve tried actually putting fish on the bank has been somewhat disappointing. I have always said ‘wherever there’s a famine there will be a feast’, well I’m well and truly ready for some well deserved rod bending action now. It’s been difficult and unproductive for a number of reasons, firstly due to the lakes freezing has meant that quite a few features and guided trips have had to be cancelled or rescheduled, however on a positive note the fishing shed is sorted, the mice that were causing all sorts of problems have now gone and a few things around the house have also been done. I’ve also spent time writing articles but the only thing they are lacking is any decent catch images, something that I have to get out and shoot/catch if I’m not to use old dated images to many times, something I try my hardest not to do, yet with February upon us, who knows what’s in stall.
 All in all January has been very difficult and I can see why many anglers dust the rods of and don’t bother during this and next month, but if I go more than three days without casting a line I’m crawling up the walls to get out. Yes I could have made different venue choices and caught more but I still like a challenge, yet when things aren’t quite going to plan, or the fish aren’t responding it’s hard to keep focused but I’m still young enough to be slightly mad as well as keen. Hopefully February will be slightly kinder, allow me to fish where and how I want to and the results will come. We will see.



Day to Day event.
02/01/17 – It might be a bank holiday but I spent the day in the office completing the Lure Attack feature with Serhill photographed just before Christmas.
04/01/17 – Headed to Frensham for a couple of hours pike fishing but really raw and never had a touch.
05/01/17 – I was hoping to get out for a few hours but being so cold and with the atmospheric pressure really high decided it was time to start the major job of cleaning the tackle shed due to having a new roof laid a few weeks back and the place being covered in dust. It’s also a good time to start chucking out/giving away loads of old stuff that I was saving to give to some youngsters which unfortunately have shown no interest in fishing.
06/01/17 – Met a friend outside Yateley Angling and headed to a stretch of the Loddon for a day’s roving with deadbaits. Knew it wouldn’t be easy due to the air pressure, hard overnight frost and a temperature that wasn’t going to rise above 4 degrees. Very little happened until we dropped in a swim on the way back to the car when Mark managed a pike. Sadly it wasn’t the specimen we were hoping for but any pike on such a trip has to be regarded as a result.
07/01/17 – Spent a few hours organising the rods for a few different sessions coming up during the following week. A couple of area’s that I have decided are a must for the coming year is to stop using any reel that I don’t have complete confidence in using as well as loading the ones that I am using with new line. This will mean having to buy a small match fixed
spool, one with a very good clutch and a closed face reel to replace the old lumpy Daiwa 125 that has served me so well for so long but it’s now far from perfect for trotting or playing a fish.  
08/01/17 – Met my mate Chris at Frensham Great Pond for a few hours pike fishing as well as starting to think about our holiday to France in April for carp. The weather feels perfect, overcast, with little wind, far better atmospherics and mild at 10 degrees but for some reason just one small jack fell during our stay.
09/01/17 – TRD (all will be revealed).
10/01/17 – Arrived at The Lower Itchen Fishery at 8am, headed upstream to find the fishery nice and quiet. The weather was being kind, mild, overcast and with very little wind which helped my two customers presenting a float down the river. Neither John M nor John G had ever caught a grayling yet straight away that all changed with both catching there target of a pound plus grayling within minutes of starting. Every swim that was fished produced fish after fish which kept them well happy before we headed downstream to the deeper, slower stretch to see if a bigger grayling or specimen roach could be located. Sadly neither showed, yet a few modest grayling still kept their interest before dusk fell and we had to retreat of the river.

11/01/17 – Before Christmas I pike fished a local lake with Paul Garner. Between us we managed three modest pike after finally finding them smashing the small roach up along a bank where they don’t usually show. Unfortunately due to one thing or another this was the first chance to return and I was hoping to create a short video of the events, however the pike had done a disappearing act and the five hours fished saw nothing happen. Finally I headed to the Blackwater, scene of a pike grabbing a customer’s chub a few weeks before and second cast on a sink-and-draw dead roach saw a jack grab the bait, which fortunately saved me from another pike blank.
12/01/17 – 14/01/17 – With the freezing conditions and the howling wind everything planned has had to be rescheduled so have spent the time writing features and getting on top of things such as sorting the kit out for next week and tidying the tackle shed.
15/01/17 – TRD.
17/01/17 – TRD.
18/01/17 to 26/01/17 – Due to the really cold conditions decided to spend a few days in the office sorting words and images for an AM Carp Crew article, drumming up some new work and still trying to get some sort of organisation in the fishing shed.
27/01/17 – Met brother at my parents at 7am and headed to the Frome in the hope that the milder weather would bring rod bending action. With anglers around we headed downstream but soon after starting we knew that things weren’t quite right as bites were hard to come by. In brief Kevin ended the day with a 3lb sea trout and two grayling to 1lb 11oz after switching to the feeder and all I had was a 3lb sea trout and a net grayling on the float. Proves we know little about fishing.
29/01/17 – TRD.
30/01/17 – TRD.
31/07/17 – A guided trip to Mill Farm Fishery for silver bream last year was ruined by a major algae bloom and although we did catch the odd fish the silvers were definitely not playing ball. Today was meant to be a return for Neil but with the venue closed till Easter, and knowing how much Neil loves his float fishing mentioned a small lake that was worth trying for its roach. Well after a very slow start he managed to start catching and come the end of the session had put together a double figured bag of roach to around a pound.
01/02/17 – Tench image. Maybe my fortunes are changing.


TRD – All will be revealed soon.